In Lode, questions and tears

Tuesday

Feb 5, 2013 at 12:01 AM

ANGELS CAMP - Chaplains, counselors and others trained to aid the grieving were on hand Monday at Bret Harte Union High School as students returned for the first time since two classmates were found shot dead, apparently by their father.

Dana M. Nichols

ANGELS CAMP - Chaplains, counselors and others trained to aid the grieving were on hand Monday at Bret Harte Union High School as students returned for the first time since two classmates were found shot dead, apparently by their father.

While friends and peers at the school mourned Alex Marshall, 17, and his sister, Macaila Marshall, 14, so, too, did many adults in towns up and down Highway 4.

In Murphys, First Congregational Church opened its doors for the day, inviting community members to pray for the dead and the grieving. Just down Highway 4, the flag at Chatom Vineyards flew at half-staff.

In Angels Camp, the directors of the Calaveras 4 Teens Center arranged to have a counselor present daily from 3 to 6 p.m. for any teens stopping by after school.

And the adults, like the young people, asked again and again why Phillip Marshall, 54, took the lives of his children, and even the family dog, before turning the handgun on himself.

Calaveras County sheriff's investigators found the bodies at the family's Murphys-area home on Saturday afternoon. But they did not find any evidence indicating Phillip Marshall's motivation.

Some new details released Monday, however, indicated that there had been tension between Marshall and some of his relatives.

The Sheriff's Office issued a statement indicating that in November 2008, Phillip Marshall filed a crime report alleging that his estranged wife, Sean Marshall, had committed burglary.

The following month, Sean Marshall's sister, Erin Chamberlain, filed a crime report alleging that Phillip Marshall slapped her during an argument outside of Sean Marshall's home in Murphys.

According to the report, the confrontation occurred as Phillip Marshall argued with Sean Marshall over Phillip wanting to see his daughter, Macaila.

After that incident, Phillip Marshall was arrested and jailed on suspicion of battery, disturbing the peace and making harassing phone calls. But sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Chris Hewitt said the District Attorney's Office ultimately decided not to prosecute the case.

Also Monday, the Sheriff's Office identified the gun that Marshall used as a 9 mm Glock handgun and said evidence at the scene indicated that the two children were most likely asleep when their father shot them.

Investigators also said that they had ruled out the possibility that someone other than Marshall was responsible for the killings.

Raggio said that an autopsy will be conducted today. Investigators are not yet certain of when the shootings happened, except that it was between Thursday night, when the two children ceased texting their friends, and Saturday afternoon, when the bodies were found.

The Rev. Ray Bohrbaum, a chaplain with the Murphys Fire District, was among those present to assist Monday as dozens of students gathered in the school's Learning Center to talk, weep and grieve.

"It's a hard thing to handle at an early age," Bohrbaum said. "But you look around and talk to these kids, and they're strong. These kids are strong."

Bruce Davidge, an instructor at Calaveras High School in San Andreas, was at the Learning Center with seven Calaveras High students who are peer mentors and who have had hospice training in how to work with grieving people.

Bret Harte staff said that they have plenty of other counselors waiting in reserve to help should that be necessary as the week progresses.

Yet even as they reached out to comfort each other, many in these communities said Monday they still struggle to believe the truth of what happened in the Marshall family home.

"We think it isn't going to happen here," said the Rev. Jo Siders, a member of the congregation at First Congregational Church, who volunteered Monday to be on hand for anyone wishing to visit the church. "Murphys is such a peaceful community in so many ways."

Marilyn Baisel, also a member of the congregation, said the community's young people were particularly on her mind. "We just pray for them to move ahead with their own lives without fear," she said.